Page 236 - James Caan - The Real Deal

Chapter 23

The End of an Era

(1998–1999)

‘ I back people not businesses. ’

y investment strategy was clearly working. I was able to
M use my money, my profile, my building, my payroll depart-
ment, my lawyer – the entire Alexander Mann infrastructure – and
my brilliant team to leverage the opportunities in front of us. I
don’t know anyone else who did what I did in the nineties, but
marrying what we already had with the sector-specific talent we
backed enabled us to guide and shape the people who would drive
the new businesses forward.
Other ventures we started in those days included Adlam
Consulting, a specialist recruiter in the investment world headed
by Lyndy Adlam, and QED Recruiting, which operated in the
industrial sector and was led by Richard Merrick. We also started
joint ventures in Manchester, and in Holland and Turkey, and
acquired a business called Nicholson Consulting.
It was a very impressive portfolio of companies, and whether
someone needed legal advice, marketing know-how or IT support,
it was easy for the organisation to give it to them. With those

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